I'll Be There
by liblouella81
Summary: Olivia gets some news and isn't sure about much of anything anymore. Still married, Elliot fights his way to be by her side, through thick and thin. Will they get their chance? Or will they miss it? EO. Rated T for now! Some language will be present :
1. I Deserve a Pedicure

****IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE: **

**For the 2 (so far) that have pointed out that I "stole" this story: I did no such thing. I don't sit here and read every story that has ever been published on fanfiction to make sure that I don't have the same idea. Because God forbid 2 people have the same idea, right? Because that NEVER happens. However, I do apologize for offending anyone that has been offended.**

**Everybody gets their writing inspiration from different places. *MY* inspiration for this story came from 2 places. Four years ago, I watched my grandma die from cancer. Literally watched. I've recently had some family stuff going on that has brought all of that back up. Also, I work with 30 different kids every day, all day long. And these are the kids that have been taken away from their parents, go to school in dirty clothes, and would rather beat your ass than let you help them. And yesterday, two of my kids (2 brothers, one is in kindergarten and the other is in 3rd grade) both informed me that their mom had cancer. Of course they don't know what it means, but it, too, brought back a lot of strong memories.**

**So, before you go accusing me of "stealing" this story and threatening to report me, you need to realize that people have the same thoughts all the time. I have no knowledge of any other story out there like this. I am going to continue this story because for all I know, the first chapter is all that I have in common with the other story. And despite the 2 comments that I have received so far, there are 4 that seem to be enjoying it.**

**Oh…and a tip for complainers…yes, thank you for pointing this out to me. However, when you did so, you did not make it to where I can contact you directly in order to apologize and explain myself. Next time, don't be anonymous or have it to where you can't receive messages. I'd much rather handle things on a personal level than deal with this crap on a public level. **

**But, again…I apologize. But I'm not ending this story. **

**Thanks, yall! :) Keep reading and enjoy :)**

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><p><strong>** I hope yall enjoy :)<strong>

**I don't own them.****

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><p>She stared at the white walls. A couple of pictures of pretty lakes hung delicately in a poor attempt to "liven the room up." She rolled her eyes at their failure to accomplish their little goal. A doctor's office is one of the most depressing places that a human can be trapped in while waiting on an over-paid, arrogant doctor that spent seventeen years in school just to tell you that you have a cold.<p>

"_This is a waste of my time_," Olivia thought. She looked down at her bare toes, noticing the polish cracking. "_I deserve a pedicure. All the long damn hours that I…"_

About that time, a light knock at the door echoed in the small room. Olivia just sat there. The doctor entered, a giant fake smile plastered on her face. "Miss Benson? I'm Dr. Callahan," her voice irked Olivia. So sweet and, oh…what do they call it…genuine.

"Hi," Olivia forced herself to speak. She had been waiting in the little exam room nearly naked, only covered by the piece of crap gown that the nurse tossed at her, for nearly 45 minutes.

"Let's see…the nurse drew blood, didn't she?" the doctor asked.

Looking down at her arm, Olivia smirked as she saw the bruise that had already formed. "Yeah, and I suggest a little more training for your nurses," she commented, rolling her arm to where the doctor could see the blackish-blue mark.

With a fake chuckle, the doctor grimaced. "Yeah, I'm really sorry about that. It's Leanne's first week here."

"Well, she's lucky I don't mind needles. Her next patient may not be as understanding." Olivia's tone was a bit sharp with the doctor. She knew she should probably be nice, but at that point in time, she just couldn't make herself.

The doctor sat on the small stool and wheeled herself over to Olivia. She pressed the cold stethoscope to Olivia's skin, giving the instructions to "Breath in and out for me." After a couple more simple procedures, the doctor pulled off her gloves with a smile. "Well, Miss Benson, you go ahead and get changed and I'll be back in here in a few minutes after the blood results are back, okay?"

Carefully sliding herself off the exam table, Olivia chimed in, "It better not take 45 more minutes or I'm leaving." The doctor's eyes got wide as she took a step out of the door.

"Uh, yes mam…" she replied with another fake smile.

Olivia stepped into the little bathroom that was directly attached to the exam room and let the skimpy gown slide down to the floor. "I'm going to kill Elliot if he made me come here for no reason," she mumbled, sliding her pants back on.

He had claimed that over the past few weeks, Olivia had been losing weight like crazy. He had also made it known that she "was never rested" like she should be. Never mind that they're both cops and they're _never_ rested. But alas, he had begged her for two weeks and finally she caved. She decided that taking an hour off work to make him shut the hell up would probably be worth it.

Exiting the mini bathroom, Olivia sat down in the "comfy chair," which was made of hard plastic, to slip her shoes back on. Another knock on the door echoed through the room as the same doctor slowly cracked the door open. "Miss Benson?" she asked, not seeing Olivia as she was ducked down fixing her shoe laces.

"Yep…" Olivia replied, sitting up. She clipped her badge back onto her belt and stood up. "So, what's the news, doc? I got a cold? Great. Thanks for your time," Olivia smarted off, picking her coat up off of the chair.

"Detective Benson, you may want to sit down for a minute." The blonde lady's tone had changed to a more serious pitch instead of the perky, bubbly tone that she had before.

With a raised eyebrow, Olivia sat back down, putting her hands on her knees, still ready to get the hell out of there. "What is it?" she asked.

"Detective Benson…I…um…" the doctor stuttered as she clung to Olivia's medical file. Olivia began to pick up on the seriousness of her facial expression. "Although more tests need to be run to be 100 percent positive," the doctor took a breath, "Your blood work today showed that you have a type of cancer."

Olivia chuckled. "Did Stabler put you up to this?" she asked, standing up, grabbing her coat again.

"I don't know who that is, Detective Benson, but this is very serious."

Narrowing her eyes, Olivia's heart stopped for a moment as she read the doctor's face. "You're being serious…" her brown eyes traced the doctor's facial expression.

Nodding, the doctor opened Olivia's file and turned it towards her. "These are the results to your blood test. These levels here," the doctor pointed at a black and white graph, "Those aren't normal."

Olivia took a step back, her eyes still narrowed. "This can't be right…" she shook her head. "What kind of cancer is it?"

"It's in your lymph nodes," the doctor told her, pulling out a business card from her lab coat pocket. "Call this doctor, set up an appointment. Tell the secretary that you're from Dr. Callahan's office and that if she has any questions to call me. They will be able to further test you and get you started on your treatment."

Still not fully comprehending everything, Olivia took the business card and looked at it. She looked back up at the doctor as she was opening the door for Olivia. She followed the doctor into the hallway and went through the door back through the lobby. "And Detective Benson," the doctor called out, making Olivia turn around. "I hope everything works out for you."

Nodding, Olivia looked back down at the card and began walking again. Once outside the door, she didn't hear or see anything. Just the card in her hand.

Somehow, Olivia made it back to her apartment in one piece. And somehow along the way, she had apparently sent Cragen a text message letting him know she'd be taking the rest of the day off. Of course, he didn't have a problem with that.

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><p>Elliot sat at the station, leaned back in his chair. He was checking his watch every two minutes. And the minutes in between those two minutes, he was staring at the clock on the wall and the one on his computer screen. <em>"Why hasn't she called?"<em> he asked himself, getting up and walking to the coffee pot.

By the time he got there, his phone was ringing on his desk. Munch and Fin looked in shock as he nearly flew back and grabbed the phone. "Liv?" he answered, quickly taking a few steps into the empty hallway.

"Ha, no," Kathy chuckled. "Sorry, not your precious Liv."

"Sorry, Kath," he apologized. "She went to the doctor and was supposed to be back a few hours ago.

"Well, that's sweet and all, but your children need to you to stop and pick up some poster boards. Lizzie and Dickie have projects due." He rolled his eyes. He knew all she was doing was sitting on her ass watching tv.

"Yeah, okay. I'll grab them on the way home."

After getting off the phone, he went back to his desk. "Was that Liv?" Fin asked, looking up from a stack of paperwork.

Elliot shook his head. "Just the Ice Princess," he grumbled.

It was only one o'clock. There was no way in hell Cragen was going to let him take off four hours early when Olivia was already out. He tried calling her phone yet again. And yet again, no answer. "It's me, Liv. Answer your damn phone." He was aggravated.

He had been the one to push her to going to the doctor. And if something _was_ wrong, he knew there was a chance that she would blame him. He would just have to wait until his shift was over to go check on her.

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><p>Elliot peeled out of the parking lot at five o'clock on the dot. Speeding all the way to Olivia's apartment, he jerked his SUV into a parking spot and jumped out. He climbed two stairs at a time and was at the seventh floor in about 30 seconds.<p>

Reaching to knock on the door, his heart sunk. He had been trying to convince himself all day that nothing was wrong, and that she had just taken the rest of the day off work. But he knew deep down that he wasn't going to be that lucky.

Knocking 3 times, Elliot waited for a response. No answer. He knocked again.

"Go away," he heard coming from inside.

"Come on, Liv, open the door…" he begged. He wanted to give her plenty of time to open the door voluntarily before he used his key.

"Elliot, just go away. I'm not in the mood for company."

"I'm not company! It's just me!" he argued. He turned his head just in time to see one of her nosy neighbors peak her head out. He reached in his pocket, pulling out his badge. After flashing it, the blue-haired lady disappeared. "Liv, either open the door or I'm coming in on my own," he warned.

She didn't reply. Rolling his eyes at her stubbornness, Elliot pulled his ring of keys out of his pocket and found the key for her door. Once inside the apartment, he looked around. "Liv?" he asked. No reply.

He looked in the kitchen…nope, not in there. Not in the living room either. Rounding the corner, he saw a lump on her bed. "Liv?" he asked again, slowly taking a step towards the bedroom.

"What?" she groaned, not moving. His eyes narrowed as he stepped closer to the bed. She was laying sideways on the bed, curled up with a massive amount of pillows and a giant blanket. "Do you have something to say or are you just going to stare at me?" she snapped.

"I want to know why you didn't come back to work today." His fingers fidgeted with the keys in his pocket.

"I didn't feel like it." Her answer was short and very Olivia-ish.

"Come on, Liv…" he coaxed, sitting on the edge of her bed. He reached over and put a hand on her knee, causing her to turn her head to look at him. "What'd the doctor say?"

"Nothing, Elliot," she lied, her eyes darting back at the tv. She bit the inside of her lip, curling her legs closer to her body.

"Liar," his blue eyes traced her body and locked on her brown ones as they began to fill with tears.

"Can you just leave?" she asked, taking a deep breath in an attempt to hold the tears back. She hadn't cried yet and she sure as hell didn't want to start in front of Elliot.

"Liv, what's going on?" he asked, gently rubbing her leg from her ankle to her knee.

Without any more prompting, Olivia's eyes squeezed shut and the tears began to run down her cheeks.

Elliot got up from the foot of the bed and moved to where he would be leaning against the headboard. He leaned over and pulled her up and against him. She was limp in his arms as he hushed her, rubbing a hand across her back. He wasn't quite sure what was going on, but he knew it couldn't be good.

After hitting the mute button on the remote control, the room was filled with her sobs against his chest. He ran a hand through her wavy auburn hair and kissed the top of her head.

Once she had calmed down a little bit, he brushed her hair out of her face. "Can you tell me what's wrong?" he asked.

Her tearstained eyes looked up at him as she swallowed hard. "Elliot…" she bit her lip again. "I have cancer."


	2. Seems To Be That Way

****I should've probably mentioned before that this story is taking place 7 years after Olivia and Elliot met. Elliot and Kathy only have the twins, who are 12 but almost 13. No Kathleen or Maureen. I love them and all, but 4 kids was way too many for this story :) **

**I don't own them sadly. But ooh the things they would be doing if I did...bwahaha! :) ****

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><p>"You are so full of shit!" Elliot grinned, earning a strange look from the woman lying against his chest. "Oh come on, you should know by now you can't get away with lying to me. Cancer? You really thought that would work?" He laughed again.<p>

As her eyes lowered, Olivia's lips pressed together while she inhaled deeply. "Elliot, I'm not joking," she assured him, her brown eyes finding his.

She watched as Elliot's face went through a range of expressions. First, the "yeah right, you're still kidding" face. Second, the "no…seriously…tell me you're kidding" face. And third, the "shit, you're not kidding" face.

"Wha…what? How? You're not joking?" he jumbled his words. "Please tell me you're joking, Liv…"

Her eyes lowered again as she shook her head. "I'm not joking, El."

Without another word, Elliot pulled her into his arms, taking a deep breath as he rested his chin against her head. He decided to just hold her. He had to take this in before he made any pathetic attempt at consoling her and ended up screwing things up.

They both watched the flicker of the tv as neither of them knew what to say. Neither of them moved. Hell, neither of them wanted to move. They both wanted to stay in that moment. They wanted that moment to be perfect. Perfect until his phone began ringing in his pocket.

He leaned his head back against the headboard and rolled his eyes. "Give me a second," he whispered, gently moving off of the bed. Despite him attempting to be quiet and him being in another room, Olivia could hear every word that he said.

"Stabler," he answered. Olivia loved his typical answer. Kathy, not so much.

"Where the hell are you?" she yelled from the other end.

"Kathy…" he took a deep breath. "Something's happened. I'll just have to explain when I get home."

"Yeah? And when's that gonna be, Mr. Adulterer?" she snapped.

Elliot ran a hand through his short hair and shook his head. "I don't know, Kathy. I'm not leaving her right now." Olivia's heart fluttered from the other room.

"Like that's a surprise," she mumbled. "Elliot, I'm getting sick and tired of this shit. Actually I'm past sick and tired of this shit."

"I'm sorry, Kathy," he rolled his eyes again as the words fell off of his tongue, like the habit that they had become.

"We need you at home, too. You know that, right? That your _family_ needs you?"

"Kathy, you need me to run by the store so you don't have to get your ass off the couch to get the twins their posters. Olivia has cancer. Your definition of 'need' is completely different than the actual definition. And you can kiss my ass." He snapped his phone shut, immediately opening it back up and holding the power button down.

Once the lights had disappeared, he shoved it back into his pocket and resumed his place beside Olivia, their shoulders leaning against each other. Olivia smirked as she looked down at the ring on her finger. "Did you really just tell her to kiss your ass?"

Elliot chuckled and looked over at her, his Stabler-grin flashing. "Seems to be that way," he mumbled, leaning over and pressing his lips into hers.

"You know I'm still not joking about this whole situation, right?" she asked, his forehead pressed against hers.

Reaching up, he cupped her cheek with a simple smile. "We'll get through this. Like we always do." Kissing him one more time, Olivia took a deep breath and sighed. "So what now?" His thumb caressed the back of her hand.

"I meet with an oncologist tomorrow to see what they're planning on doing. They didn't even tell me what _kind_ of cancer it is other than something to do with my blood," she sighed again.

"I'll be there," he kissed her cheek.

"No, Elliot. You can't miss work. If you miss work, they'll start to get suspicious."

He smiled, putting his arm around her shoulders. "We've hidden it for 3 years. I think we're doing good."

Olivia fell into his side. "I'm tired of hiding this, Elliot. I'm tired of taking off my ring every time I go into the station. I'm tired of being the other woman." Tears started to make their way to her eyes again.

"Hey," he pulled her chin towards him. "First of all, you're not the other woman. You're _the_ woman. I just met the _other_ woman before you." She faked a smile and nodded. "Second, you know I was waiting until the twins were 13 before I left. That way, they can freely choose to live with me instead of Kathy. I don't want a messy custody battle."

"Well, they turn 13 in two months," she reminded him with a grin, holding her left hand out in front of her, letting the diamond shine in the dim light. "Does that mean I get you all to myself when you sign the papers?"

Elliot leaned over, pressing his forehead to hers. "Baby, you've had me all to yourself since the first time I laid eyes on you." With a simple kiss, he leaned back against the headboard.

Olivia's fingers traced along his strong hand, intertwining them with his fingers as she settled into him even more. "I don't think it's hit me yet."

"Hey," he gently lifted her chin towards him again as he smiled the smile that she fell in love with. "I promise. We'll make it." As he stared into her with his blue eyes, Olivia's heart broke a little more. She had seen what cancer does to people. And she wasn't ready to leave Elliot like that.

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><p>The next morning, Olivia and Elliot, much to Olivia's disagreement, sat in the waiting room of the oncologist that she had been instructed to call. Elliot nervously flipped through a magazine while Olivia watched people being taken back and other people who were leaving. Out of the seventeen people in the room, she counted that ten of them had hats on or were completely bald. She began to get an even deeper feeling in the pit of her stomach.<p>

"Miss Benson?" a petite lady called from across the room. Olivia and Elliot's hearts both sank as they stood up, crossing the silent room. "Hi, follow me please?" the woman asked with a smile.

After reaching out for her hand, Elliot followed Olivia behind the nurse. He felt her squeeze his hand as they entered the exam room. "Alright, Miss Benson…" the lady said, rummaging through a drawer. "If you'll just put this gown on, Dr. Ramirez will be right with you guys."

Olivia faked a smile as the door shut behind the lady. Slipping off her coat, Olivia reached out and took the gown off of the exam table. "I hate these things more than this stupid cancer," she mumbled. Elliot tried to hide his laugh as he sat on a small couch beside the table.

"I'm sure you'll look beautiful," he assured her as she shut the mini-bathroom door.

Within a minute, the door was opening again. Olivia flipped off the light with one hand while carefully holding the front of the gown together with the other hand. "No laughing or I will kick your ass," she warned, scooting herself up onto the exam table, her socked feet dangling over the edge.

Grinning, Elliot stood up and approached her sitting on the table. "Told ya that you'd look beautiful," he whispered, pressing his lips against hers.

"You are such a lair," she play-shoved him as she chuckled. He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as someone knocked on the door and pushed it open.

"Miss Benson?" another lady in a white lab coat entered the room with a smile. "Hi, I'm Dr. Ramirez," she introduced herself, reaching her hand out to shake both Olivia's and Elliot's hands.

"I'm Olivia, this is Elliot," Olivia spoke politely towards the woman.

"Not meaning to pry," she replied as she pulled on a pair of latex gloves, "But are you boyfriend, husband, just a friend…"

Elliot chuckled and shook his head. "I'm fiancé."

"Well nice to meet you, fiancé," the doctor smiled, opening Olivia's chart. "It's always good for people to have someone close that they care about when going through something like this. I've noticed that it gives the patient something to work harder for."

"_Great…now I'll forever be seen as a 'patient'…"_ Olivia thought, rolling her eyes to herself. She hated that word. _Patient_.

"Well, Miss Benson," the doctor glanced over the files. "Dr. Callahan has referred you to me because you exhibit strong signs of a form of leukemia." Elliot's heart momentarily stopped beating. "But, to be one-thousand percent certain, we're going to run some more tests that are quite a bit more detailed than the ones that were ran yesterday," the doctor assured. "No need in treating this for something if it's really not that at all, is there?" she chuckled.

"How long will we be here today?" Olivia asked, squeezing Elliot's hand.

"Um…" the doctor pulled out her stethoscope, pressing it to Olivia's chest and back. "You can probably figure a couple of hours. And trust me, I know it sucks. But I think you'd much rather find out an absolute answer than have us halfway do it and you only be half-sure that you do or don't have cancer." The doctor swiveled around on her stool and pressed Olivia's tongue down with a tongue depressor.

"Everything looks good from here," she stated. "But I bet you've been feeling a little more fatigued than normal?"

Olivia looked up at Elliot and grinned. "Well, we're both detectives with the NYPD so it's hard for us to really tell when we're actually tired and when something's wrong."

"She's lost quite a bit of weight in the last month or two," Elliot added. "And she used to eat anything that wasn't nailed down." He earned a funny look from Olivia as the corners of her mouth curved upward. "I've noticed her eating has slowed down, too."

"Well aren't you observant," the doctor chuckled. "Ya know, good men like this are hard to find," she talked more directly at Olivia.

"You're telling me. I've been trying to get rid of this one for a few years, but he won't go anywhere." Elliot grinned his Stabler-grin down at Olivia as she laughed at her own joke.

The doctor smiled as she pulled off her gloves. "Let me go get one of the nurses to come draw some blood," she informed the couple as she opened the door.

"Doctor?" Olivia asked, making the dark-haired woman turn around. Olivia rolled her arms to were the doctor could see her battle wounds from the day before. "_Please_ make sure it's someone that knows how to draw blood. I already look like I've been shooting up."

Cringing, Dr. Ramirez nodded. "I'll see what I can do for you."

When the door shut, Elliot looked down at Olivia and raised an eyebrow. "Been trying to get rid of me for a few years, huh?" he asked.

With a smile, she looked up into his blue eyes and kissed him softly. "Only to make sure you actually _wanted_ to stay around," she promised. "If you had left during all those crazy moments, you sure as hell wouldn't be staying by me now."

"I'm not going anywhere," he promised, cupping her cheek. "I love you," he told her, kissing her forehead.

"I love you, too, El."


	3. The Last Member of Our Crew

****I know this chapter is a little bit shorter than the others, but I really wanted the next moment to have its own chapter. And trust me, I'm ALL about some long chapters, so I know the shortness sucks lol. **

**This chapter, the rest of the gang get brought into play. Also, some life-changing decisions are ahead for a couple of our key characters! :) Enjoy!**

**Don't own them...****

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><p>Reaching over, Elliot gently swiped his thumb across Olivia's tearstained cheek. A silence had been surrounding them for quite a while as they sat in his SUV, which was still in the parking lot of the doctor's office. Olivia had been leaned over into Elliot's side as he ran a hand across her back.<p>

Instead of forcing her to get on with her life, he gave her the opportunity to just sit there and catch up on everything that had happened in the previous twenty-four hours. Hell, _he_ was still trying to take it all in as well.

His shoulder was damp from her tears and his arm was beginning to cramp from the awkward position that he had been in for longer than he should've been, but he wasn't complaining. At that moment, he had her. He had Olivia Renae Benson and that's all he wanted in life.

Once Olivia had mostly regained her composure, sitting upright in the passenger seat, she flipped down the mirror and dabbed at her face with a leftover napkin from a fast-food place, sniffling as she wiped away the tears. "I need to go tell Cragen," she told Elliot, matter-of-factly.

"Honey, I'm sure he's fine with letting you take some time to sort through things before you make big decisions," he attempted to reach over and place his hand on top of hers.

"No, Elliot," she told him boldly, pushing the mirror back into its place. "In case you didn't hear the doctor up there, this required immediate response. I don't have time to sit and contemplate life before I pick a path," she snapped.

He knew she was stressed. He wasn't going to let himself snap back like he did more often than not. "Liv," he spoke softly, finally making contact with her hand. Her dark brown eyes darted over to him as she wiped her nose with the napkin one last time. "We're going to make it," he told her, his blue eyes piercing hers. "I wasn't meaning to take a month long vacation to figure out what we're going to do," he explained. "I was just saying to take a breather for just a minute. We have all day to let Cragen know before you have to be in the hospital by 8 in the morning."

Olivia's eyes eased their intensity as she took a deep breath. "I'm sorry I snapped," she apologized, rubbing his hand with her thumb as she bit her bottom lip.

Elliot gently pulled her chin towards him with his free hand as he smiled at her, tracing her face with his eyes. "We're going to make it," he repeated. "Somehow," he promised, pressing his lips to her forehead.

"I love you." Her words were short but oh-so-sweet. They made a smile spread across his face as he nodded.

"I know. So what do you want to do now?" he asked, cranking the SUV's engine.

"We gotta go tell the guys," she sighed.

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><p>"Liv, what the hell is this about?" Casey asked, her foot tapping against the concrete floor. The red-head of the group was leaned against a small table, her briefcase at the ready.<p>

"We're still waiting on Cragen," she told one of her best friends. Elliot stood by Olivia, not more than six inches away. He wasn't letting her out of his sight, or reach, for as long as possible.

Alex sat calmly across the room, inspecting her fingernails as her crossed leg bounced up and down. "Why can't you just tell us, and then tell him?" she asked, not meaning to cause any waves in the room.

"Dammit, guys," Elliot huffed. "This is only going to take a minute of your time, if you can just hold on until the last member of our crew gets here."

Fin chuckled under his breath. As much as he loved Olivia like his little sister, he still had a little work to do on becoming friends with her partner.

"Okay, okay," Cragen announced, entering the small conference room. "I'm here. What's this big announcement?" he asked, shutting the door as the blinds clanked against it.

Olivia took a deep breath as her stomach bottomed out. Elliot lifted an arm inconspicuously and rested it on the small of her back, just letting her know that he was there. She nodded and looked up at the room of faces staring at her. "I found out today that…" she paused, not sure if she could finish her sentence.

After taking another deep breath to stop the flood of tears that almost escaped, she swallowed hard and stood up straight. "I found out today that I have cancer."

The room was silent. Nobody moved, breathed, or spoke. "You're in the best shape of your life," Casey finally argued, picking up her briefcase. "That's nonsense." She noticed Olivia's head look down just as a tear rolled down her cheek. "Oh my God…" she mumbled, her eyes suddenly a lot wider than before as she dropped the briefcase.

"Cancer? Are they sure?" Munch asked, his dark glasses now in his hand as he rubbed his eyes.

Elliot nodded as Olivia stood motionless. "Acute Myeloid Leukemia," he told everybody, his eyes tracing Olivia's form as his hand crossed her back repeatedly.

Suddenly, Casey grabbed her briefcase again and ran out of the room, leaving the door open behind her. "Um…I'll go get her…" Fin told everybody, getting up from the table.

"No, no…" Olivia stopped him, raising a hand as she looked up. "Let her go. Everybody deals with things in their own way." Her words were bold and brave as she looked up at the ceiling, trying to get the crying under control. "She'll come around."

Cragen approached Olivia, wrapping his arms around his daughter-figure's shoulders. "Take as much time as you need. We'll be here when you're ready to go again," he promised. "And we'll be there every step of the way."

"Thanks, Cap," Olivia responded with a shaky voice as he left the room.

Looking over, Olivia noticed Alex's face. It was as white as a ghost. "Alex? You okay?" she asked, her eyes narrowing.

Alex looked up and attempted a smile. She got up from the table and approached Olivia and Elliot. "Take care of her," she quietly instructed Elliot. She was one of the very few people who knew about the affair. And Olivia knew she'd take it to her grave. Elliot nodded and rubbed Olivia's back.

"And as for you," Alex continued, hugging her best friend, "I'll go fix Casey and we'll be there every step of the way, too."

"Thanks, Al," Olivia whispered.

After Alex left the room, Elliot smiled at Olivia, squeezing her hand. "I'm gonna go talk to Cragen for a minute," he told her with a soft kiss on her cheek.

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><p>"Come in," the captain answered as Elliot knocked on the door. He motioned for his senior lead detective to take a seat as he wrapped up a phone call. Once the phone was back on the receiver, Cragen looked up at Elliot. "I don't even know what to say," he admitted.<p>

Elliot halfway chuckled. "Me either, Cap."

"The Department will be paying all medical expenses for her. And they are being given instructions from a much higher-up that that includes any and all treatment that the doctors believe could help her in the slightest bit," he informed Elliot.

"Oh, wow…that's great, Cap," Elliot grinned. He knew Olivia would be freaking out about money as soon as it crossed her mind. "But I have another question…"

Cragen looked up from the pile of papers in front of him and smiled. "Take all the time off that you need to in order to help get her better," he instructed. "Obviously, that doesn't mean every day, all day long. But if she needs you, then you be there for her."

Nodding, Elliot took a deep breath. "I don't know what to do, Don," he sighed, his head resting in his hands while his elbows were propped on his knees.

"If it were me…and thank God it isn't…I'd get on with the divorce as soon as possible," Cragen bluntly told him. "You guys have been more than partners for, what…three years now? Now's the time to make the move," he advised. "You don't want to end up living the rest of your life wondering what would've happened…especially if this cancer isn't as merciful as we're hoping."

"Thanks, Captain," Elliot let out a deep breath as he stood up. "I've been needing to hear that."


End file.
